Respiratory control during independent lung ventilation

We describe the case of a lung transplant patient with primary graft failure and an emphysematous native lung, who displayed different respiratory rates between the transplanted lung and the native lung. Inflation of the native lung delayed the next inspiratory effort relative to inflation of the denervated transplanted lung. Synchronous inflation of both lungs required more pressure in each lung than when that lung was inflated with the contralateral lung near functional residual capacity, suggesting the two lungs compete for space within the thoracic cavity.